Star Trek Voyager & Trigun: Reminiscence
by Turles
Summary: The Starship Voyager has come across a stray shuttle in the middle of the Delta Quadrant. They know that there are no shuttles out that far. But what they will find on it will bring back some very old memories to Seven, memories of a Red coat.
1. The Red Coat

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Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Star Trek Voyager, Trigun, or any other copyrighted information. All Copyrights belong to their respective owners. 

****

Reader's **Note:** This is a re-posting. 

Star Trek Voyager

&

Trigun

Reminiscence

Chapter 1: The Red Coat

****

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Seven was dreaming in the semi-quietness of her alcove in cargo bay 2. The only sounds were the humming of the alcove itself as she was regenerating but in this regenerating she was dreaming. It wasn't an ordinary dream, this was a nightmare, she was surrounded by Borg drones in this dream. She looked left, she looked right and back to her left, drones, drones everywhere. There was no escape from them, and it was then she heard that same monotonic voice.

"Seven of nine." The collective stated, "Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. You will be assimilated, resistance is futile."

The drones started to move in, they clustered around Seven like hunters around their prey. Why were they so determined to come after her, why her? Of all individuals, why was she the one that they wanted so desperately? 

She could feel her heart racing within her chest she was experiencing fear. Why? She never experienced fear, especially around the Borg, but why was she afraid. She could feel her heart like it was about to jump right out of her throat, hell it felt like it was going to pop out of her chest. Her muscles tensed, she felt hot, sweating as the drones closed in around her. She couldn't help it she screamed. 

"Help me!" She screamed.

She looked up and all she saw there was darkness and from the darkness a ray of like pieced through it like a bullet. Seven covered her eyes as she felt her pupils try to adjust to the new light. She looked back at the drones and saw that the drones were retreating back as they saw the light come down on Seven. Seven looked back up at the source of light and she saw the shape of a person come down from the light like a biblical angel. She saw the figure start to sprout angelic wings from it's back. As the image came closer Seven no longer felt the fear or anxiety. She felt her heart start to relax and beat softly as the figure came closer to her. 

The figure became slowly visible to Seven's eyes; she saw the figure had a red coat that was draping like a cape or a clock. She looked at the face and all she could see of the face was blonde hair that was standing up on end as if the being had used some kind of strong hair gel or was being shocked. This angelic figure reached out its hand towards Seven, inviting her to take it. 

She heard a voice call out from the figure, "Anika." It called, the voice was a man's voice, yet it was soft and gentle, "Anika."

It was then when she heard that voice that Seven of Nine woke up in her alcove. She reached up to her forehead to feel sweat. She felt weak in her knees and shoulders; she could barely stand in her place. She had to hold onto the handrail of the alcove in order to stand. 

She reached for her communicator to call the doctor, "Seven of Nine to the Doctor." 

"Doctor here." The doctor called

"I need to come to sick bay." She stated 

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The doctor ran his scans over Seven as she sat on the examination bed. She could still feel the after effects of the dream she had, though she was not inclined to tell the doctor that at first. She wanted to keep this to herself, at least at first she wanted to, because she felt something extremely familiar about that figure. The red coat is what she remembered the most, but why did she remember that the most out of all the rest? 

The doctor completed his scans with his tricorder. 

"According to my scans." The doctor stated in his _doctor almighty tone,_ "It seems you've suffered from a severe nightmare." 

"I have not." Seven refuted

The doctor sneered, "The scans don't lie Seven. You had a nightmare, would you like to tell anything about it?"  
Seven felt cornered, conflicted. Should she tell the doctor about the dream or should she keep this to herself. At last she decided to tell the dream. 

"I dreamt," she stared, "That I was surrounded by Borg drones, I was afraid. I cannot figure out why I was afraid, but something else happened while I was surrounded. I looked up and saw a figure come out of the sky. The most dominant feature that I remember about this figure was a red coat."

"A red coat?" The doctor asked

"Yes, and blonde hair. I don't know why but I feel as though I remember that person." 

"It was just a dream Seven." The doctor reassured, "It's nothing to be afraid of. Other than this slight nightmare, you're perfectly alright." 

Seven got up off of the table and walked out of sickbay not feeling the slightest bit assured by the doctor. She still felt that there was something more to that man in that coat, but what was it? Why after all this time of being on this ship and crew for nearly two years does this hit her? Could it be a premonition? Or could it be that the doctor is right that it's just a dream and nothing else? 

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The Bridge: 

"Captain." Harry called, "Something's showing up on sensors."

"What is it, Harry?" Janeway asked

"I can't tell from this distance, but I think it's a small craft."

Janeway knew what to do in cases like this, "Where is it?"

Harry tried to get a fix on the object, "It's about 5 light years from here. Course 002, Mark 3." 

"Tom." Janeway called, "Set a course for the object, Warp 2."

"Aye." Tom complied, "Setting course."

As the Starship Voyager headed towards the object at it's velocity, the sensors began to detect much more from the object.

"Captain." Harry called, "I'm getting more on the object, it's definitely a craft, but…"

Janeway got up from her Captain's chair to look over at the concerned Mr. Kim, "But what?"

"This can't be right." Harry refused, "There must be something wrong with the sensors. According to what I'm receiving, the object has a federation warp signature."

"This is illogical." Tuvok added, "There are no other Federation vessels out here."

"I know that." Harry stated as he was frantically trying to run a local diagnostic on the sensors. He waited for an answer from the computer hoping that the computer would say that there is something wrong with the sensors. His hopes were dropped as the computer reported that there was nothing wrong with the sensors.

"There's nothing wrong with the sensors." Harry reported, "So it's true, whatever's out there is a federation vessel."

"But you said that it was small." Chakotay restated, "So it could be a shuttle craft."

"That's the other part that didn't make sense to me that there's a federation shuttle craft out there." 

"We'll know what it is in a few minutes." Janeway added to the issue, "So we'll find out." 

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In the lower decks a different kind of scan was going on, it was in the astrometrics lab that Seven was frantically scanning everything within a 4 light-year radius from Voyager. She only found the usual astrological phenomena, asteroids, pulsars, quasars, red giants, white dwarfs, red dwarfs and comets. What was she looking for? She thought that she was trying to find something that was connecting to the dream. She looked for Borg ships, nothing, she tried to find planets that might have a single life form on it, but there wasn't anything out there. 

"Why?" she thought, "Why am I searching for something that appeared in something as irrational as a dream?" 

Then she found something, she extended the radius to 5 light years and she found something there. She found a ship, she looked up at the enormous screen that was like a view screen for the astrometrics lab. She saw a ship that looked like an old issue federation runabout shuttlecraft, was this it? Would this craft be a clue to what was in her dream?

She dashed out of the astrometrics lab and headed for the nearest turbolift, she wanted to get to the bridge. She wanted to talk to the captain about the federation shuttlecraft that she found.

"I'm being irrational." She thought, "But I feel somehow drawn to whatever is in that ship."

She dashed into the turbolift as if she was being chased by a demon of her past. 

"Bridge." She stated to the turbolift, she felt it lift upwards towards the bridge. She wanted to yell 'faster' at it but she had to stay under control. What if she is acting irrational and that the shuttlecraft is just empty? Or what if the reading is a malfunction within the sensors? For some unknown reason she had to find out, all that was going through her mind was the shuttlecraft and the red coat. 

She came to the bridge and stepped out, "Has a craft been detected?" She asked waiting for someone to answer.

Janeway feeling odd about this stood up to look at Seven and said, "This is a little irregular or you, but we have detected a small craft. When will we arrive?" She asked Harry

"We're there." Harry reported,

"All stop." Janeway commanded

"Aye," Tom said, "All stop." 

"I have the craft in visual range." Harry reported

"On screen." Janeway commanded

On the main screen the senior staff of Voyager saw probably the most unusual thing of all. It was just a runabout shuttlecraft in the middle of space, just drifting along in space. It was like watching a fish in a glass bowl. 

Janeway and Seven stepped forward closer to the screen to look at the craft. Why was this federation craft out here in the Delta Quadrant, thousands of light years from home?

"A federation runabout?" Janeway thought, "Out here?"

"What are you reading Harry?" She asked

"It's definitely a Federation ship, a Runabout Class Shuttle, designation Angel Arm. All systems are down, except life support." Harry read the scans from his station, "Engines, thrusters, transporter, navigation, weapons, all down. There's no sign of a battle so they must have run out of fuel. Hold on…" Harry read the scans further, "I'm detecting life signs."

"How many?" Seven asked

"Two." Harry looked at his screen deeper but what he read both frightened and confused him, "One's human and the other's…" He paused, "Borg."

"Borg?" Chakotay asked, "If there was a Borg drone there shouldn't it have assimilated whoever is on that ship?"  
"Perhaps," Tuvok speculated, "Whoever is on that ship is keeping the Borg alive."

"Maybe their dead." Tom added,

"If they were dead." Harry refuted, "Then their scans wouldn't show up." 

Janeway turned to the senior staff, "Harry." She called, "You said life support is still working right?"  
"Yes, ma'am." Harry stated blankly, "Everything else is inoperative."

She turned to Tuvok, "Take an away team there see what you can find. But I want to keep a constant transporter lock on you just in case that Borg is intent on assimilating you."

"Aye, Captain." Tuvok complied as he left the bridge.

"Captain." Seven called, "I wish to go on the away mission."

Janeway looked at Seven with concern and skepticism, "Why is that Seven?" She asked, "You've been acting peculiar in the past few minutes."

"I know that, but I have to see for myself what is on that craft." 

"If it's because of the Borg there, we'll let you know what's there."

Seven grew a face of annoyance, "It's not the Borg on that ship that I'm interested in, it's whatever human is on that ship."

Janeway thought about Seven's request to join the away mission. Was it because of the Borg that was on that ship? She already asked her about it and found out that it wasn't that, what could be so interesting about a single human on a ship that Seven hasn't seen before in her life? Even the name sounds suspicious, Angel Arm, she's never heard of a shuttle named that. Normally shuttles carry the name of their "mother ship", this one didn't it was a ship of it's own. Janeway couldn't resist it, she wanted to know too, she gave the order.

"Go ahead Seven." She smiled, "But we'll keep a transporter lock on all of you, if there's the slightest sign of trouble, I'm beaming both of you out and destroying that ship."  
"Understood." Seven said as she joined Tuvok down to the transporter room.

While in the turbo lift she and Tuvok broke the silence about what happened on the bridge.

"You're acting rather erratic." He stated, "It's not like you to behave this way. What brought this on?"

Seven only told the dream to the doctor so in order for Tuvok to understand she had to tell him, "I had a dream." She started, "In the dream I remember being saved by a man in a red coat from Borg drones. All I remember is his red coat and blonde hair and all this time I couldn't get it out of my head, I kept having this feeling that the man I saw in my dream is close by."

"Fascinating." Tuvok raised his Vulcan eyebrows, "A premonition maybe. Vulcans have said that they could see the future but it's a skill hundreds of years from perfecting. Yet, you feel as though you've had one."

"I do not know what it is. But all I know is that the answers may be on that craft." 

"Perhaps, but do not let your feelings interfere with what we may find there." 

"Understood." 

As the two of them walked, Seven couldn't help but feel anticipation. She wanted to know what was there desperately. Now she knew what it was like to teeter that thin line between sanity and madness. The red coat, why does she remember red? Why does she like the color red? Was that figure someone she knew? Impossible, she was assimilated as a child, she had no contact with anyone else and it was too long ago to remember. If that's the case then why does she still feel the anticipation?

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The away team transported over to the Runabout known as "The Angel Arm", the first thing that greeted the away teams eyes was red. There were only emergency lights on; the color red seeped through the rooms of this craft like a flood. Yet when they looked around they expected to see Borg alcove everywhere, some even expected to see Borg Drones coming at them left and right with no way out. It never happened, they saw the ship untouched, unspoiled; it was as if the Borg life sign that they detected could have been a mirage. 

The answers were ahead; Tuvok took out his tricorder to look for the life signs. 

"The Borg and the Human are this way." The pointed the tricorder down the hall. 

Down the red light soaked hallway the team went, with each step Seven grew more and more anxious. She couldn't stand feeling like this, she wanted to dash to down the hall to find whatever was there. 

Her wishes were fulfilled, the team reached a door, Tuvok recognized it as the door to the bridge yet when he stepped to it the door wouldn't open. He placed his tricorder in its pouch and reached for the door controls, they wouldn't work. So he reached for the door itself and pried it open with his bare hands, still wishing to see what was behind this door Seven reached for door and tugged with all her might to get it open. 

The door was open and the two walked in, Tuvok with his phaser out and ready to fire. There wasn't any threat behind that door, just two chairs at the consoles, yet they saw something odd from one of the chairs. They saw an arm that was a Borg arm, just then they saw the arm move and up came the body of a Borg drone. The drone was walking, yet it was just one drone. Where are the others? 

The drone turned around to look at the two members of the away team. In the red saturation of the emergency lights the drone smiled. His joy was demonstrated in his one good eye, the other eye was covered by a Borg implant. 

"I am glad to see you." It said, "My friend here would not have survived for very long."

"Who are you?" Tuvok said, "If you're Borg where are the other drones?"

"There are no others with me, I have traveled alone with my friend who is lying unconscious in this chair."

The drone pointed to the chair next to him. 

"You said _I_," Tuvok stated, "Does that mean you are separated from the collective."

"Yes." The drone stated, "I have."

"What is your designation?" Seven asked

"I am Hugh." 

"Incorrect." Seven refuted, "This is not a Borg designation."  
"My Borg designation is 3rd of 5. Please help my friend, he doesn't have much longer."

Tuvok reached for his communicator, "Tuvok to Voyager. Beam the Borg and the Human directly to…"

"Wait." Seven stopped, "I'll go with them."

"Are you sure about that?" Tuvok asked

"I am sure."

"Very well." Tuvok said and restated his order, "Voyager, three to beam out. Beam out the Borg, the human and Seven."

"Got it." Harry's voice complied

Before Harry could beam the three to sickbay, Seven got around to the second chair and looked at it. What she saw confirmed both her joys and her fears, she saw a man sitting in the chair. His hair was blonde and sticking straight up, his coat was long and red. 

"It's him." Seven whispered just as the transporter got them both and they were beamed out to Sickbay. 

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In Sickbay, the man in the red coat was on one of the bio beds near the door, but the Borg was set on the bio bed in the circular niche on the far end of Sick Bay. A force field was set around the area of the bio bed, it was explained to Hugh that it was necessary for the safety of the crew.

"I understand." Hugh replied at the time

Now, the main concern of the Doctor was the man in the red coat, he took out his medical tricorder and ran his scans over the helpless man. He ran the scanning tool from his feet up to his brow. The tricorder picked up several odd things about this man, his physiology was perfect, but he was suffering from slight hunger. 

"This is an odd person." The doctor idolized

"How is that?" Seven asked leaning over the man

"I've detected that he's alive but suffering slight hunger, but I've also detected pieces of metal in his body, but they don't seem to be affecting him in anyway. Help me get his clothes off."

Seven looking at the doctor in bewilderment, "Why?"

"To see if the pieces of metal are removable."

Seven couldn't argue, she aided the doctor in removing the coat, which resembled what Seven saw in her dream. It was long down to the man's ankles, it was almost like a cloak or a cape on a certain level. Down the center there was a panel that was like that of a chef's uniform with buttons on either side that ran in a procession to the bottom. Seven and the doctor removed the panel and pulled off the coat. Under the coat they found him to be wearing a brown skintight jumpsuit. On the mans right leg they found a gun holster and a gun's handle in it. 

The doctor reached down to pick up the gun, he could feel it's weight, it wasn't like a phaser that was lightweight, this was heavy, he pulled it up to look at it. He looked at the long barrel, the odd shaped cylinder, he read the markings on the side out loud.

"45 Colt Long Eagle." He said, "Odd weapon."

"Similar to a Colt 45 hand weapon used in the Western period on Earth."

"Yes." The doctor said with his eyebrows raised, "But what would a man like this be doing with it?"

He set the weapon down on the bio bed next to the man and began to undo the man's jumpsuit. Seven took hold of a zipper and pulled it down towards the waist, but it was what was under the jumpsuit that caught both the eye of the doctor. The two pulled back the jumpsuit and found a horrible sight for both of their eyes.

They found that this body was scarred, scarred from the waist up, except his face. They didn't know of the scars below his waist since they only took off part of the suit. They saw scars that stretched from one part of his body to another. The thing that caught the Doctors attention were the metal pieces on this man's body. 

"My God." He whispered, "What has this man been through?"

"A hell of a lot, as Lieutenant Paris would say." Seven answered 

The doctor ran his scans over the man's body but found something else. 

"Odd." He mumbled, "His left arm is prosthetic. Yet to me it looks like the real thing."

"Perhaps he had access to a good doctor." 

"Maybe, but if that's the case then why did they use such medieval techniques on his body?"

He continued the scan of the man's left arm and found something else.

"Strange." He said, "It also appears that this man's left arm is not only prosthetic but it conceals a hidden gun."

"That was also typical of Earth in their early periods." Seven stated flatly, "People with lost limbs would hide guns in their prosthetic parts." 

"True, but in this case it's different, it seems that this arm has been fit just for this man. A custom made arm and weapon."

They looked at the metal pieces and found a metal mesh across the man's left breast as well as metallic bolts that were lodged in his shoulders. Still there were scars everywhere, there was one that looked as if a shark had taken a bite out of this poor man. It was enough to make the Doctor vomit, that is if he wasn't a hologram. 

"I haven't seen anything like this." The doctor stated, "He's in bad shape, from the looks of him. Seven I'm going to have to operate on him to get these metal fragments out of him."

"Should we not wake him first?" Seven asked 

"Oh, yes." The doctor nodded, "Of course."

He reached for one of the hypo sprays that contained a stimulant, which would wake patients up after surgery. He reached down to the man's neck and injected the hypo spray into him.

Suddenly the man sat straight up as if he had just been shocked, "I'm alive!" he screamed as he reached for his chest. Suddenly he felt his own bare skin, "Where's my shirt?"  
The doctor was inclined to explain, "We took your shirt off to examine you."

"What is your name?" Seven asked

The man looked down at the bio bed, "My name is Vash." He said, "Vash the Stampede."

"Vash the Stampede?" Seven asked, "As in Vash the killer of the Borg?"

To be continued…

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Author's Notes: I've been a fan of Anime as well as Star Trek. Then I had a thought as I was watching the last episode of Star Trek Voyager. What if Vash the Stampede had known one of the crewmembers. Then I went further on that thought that if he did know someone, who would it be? Then I picked Seven of Nine, purely for one reason, the color red. Vash has affection for the color red where as Seven's favorite color is red. So I figured that this would turn out to be an interesting mix. 

I hope you've enjoyed the story and that you'll return to hear more stories of mine.


	2. Vash the Stampede

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Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Star Trek Voyager, Trigun, or any other copyrighted information. All Copyrights belong to their respective owners. 

****

Reader's **Note:** This is a re-posting. 

Star Trek Voyager

&

Trigun

Reminiscence

Chapter 2: Vash the Stampede

****

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"Vash the Stampede?" Janeway asked, "Odd name."

Vash, Hugh, and the bridge crew met in the briefing room after Vash underwent surgery to remove the pieces of metal from his body. Not only was there that metal mesh on his left breast, but there were bolts that stuck out from his shoulders, his back and his ankles. The doctor was disgusted when he found this, he wanted to know whom it was that operated on this poor man and give him a good beating. 

After the surgery the Doctor ran a dermal regenerator over the scars, they didn't heal completely but at least a half reduced their size. During the whole procedure, Seven and Hugh were they're watching the doctor operate on Vash. The doctor did examine Hugh but found nothing wrong.

The thing that Seven wanted to know was why the killer of the Borg was out here. 

"The Stampede part is strange." Vash agreed, "But I like the name Vash."

"Alright." Janeway agreed as she lay back in her chair, "Would you mind explaining what you're doing way the hell out here?"

Vash and Hugh looked at each other.

"We're on our way back to Federation space." Hugh explained.

Tuvok raised his eyebrows, "Interesting that a Borg drone would wish to return to Federation space."

Hugh turned his Borg implant filled face towards Tuvok, "I know it is, but that is where I belong." 

"Unusual."

"That's where we're heading." Vash explained, "Until our ship ran out of deuterium." 

"You can dock your ship here and we'll help you find a source of deuterium for your craft." Janeway offered, "Or you can travel with us since we're heading back to Earth. So why not stay with us." 

Vash and Hugh looked at each other, "Sure," Vash smiled, "I'll go along with that."

"Explain yourself." Seven asserted, "Vash, the Killer of the Borg."

"Killer of the Borg?" Tom asked, "This guy?" he pointed to Vash with disbelief.

"Yes." Seven answered, "In many species assimilated by the Borg in the past 10 years, Vash has been known as the Humanoid Typhoon, the Borg Slayer, Killer of the Collective, or simply the Killer of the Borg. According to the Borg he came willingly into Borg territory and destroyed the center of the Borg collective."

"This man," The doctor stated, "When I found him physically was unable to fight. He was only armed with an old fashioned gun. How could a man with a single gun be called a killer of the Borg?"

"It was an accident Doctor." Hugh backed up; "Within my memory banks I have video record of the event in which Vash had accidentally killed billions of Borg drones."

Vash's face turned down to the briefing room table in shame. The corners of his mouth turned downward as if pulled by magnets, his eyebrows drawn close together and his eyes closing. It looked like he was on the verge of breaking down or coming apart at the seams. 

"I have one question for this man." Seven asserted, "Vash, have you ever come into contact with a ship known as the Raven?"

Vash placed his brown glove covered hands over his face and brought his attention up to Seven of Nine. He took away his hands from his face and look at her. 

"No." he replied, "But it's true, I am responsible for killing all those Borg drones."

"How?" Harry asked, "not even an army could kill that many Borg drones or ships, so how could one man do it?"

Vash was about to explain, he pulled up a chair and sat down, "I was on a Borg ship being chased by them and I came to a place that they call the transwarp conduit. I was hiding there and a drone fired at me and caused the conduit to explode. Hugh and I barely escaped alive, but the expanse that was the Borg Hive began to self-destruct. We simply hit warp speed, headed for Earth and never looked back."

"I find that hard to believe." Seven refuted

" B'Elanna, Harry," Janeway commanded "Check the memories within Hugh, we'll try to see if they're story is true."

"Aye." Harry complied

"Aye." B'Elanna repeated

"Dismissed," Janeway stated as the bridge crew of the Starship Voyager got up from their seats and left the briefing room. The room was nearly empty except for Vash, Hugh and Janeway. She was nearly out the door until she turned to look back at them. The Borg and the humanoid standing side by side as if by some force of fate or nature. 

"What is it?" She asked

"Captain." Vash called standing straight up like a soldier at attention, "I can understand your skepticism but realize this, that we mean no harm to the crew of this vessel."

"I can believe you with that, please report to the science lab. My officers would like to examine the memory module within Hugh."

"We understand." Vash said.

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"What do you all think of them?" Janeway asked the present bridge crew on the bridge. Only, Chakotay, Tom, Tuvok and Janeway were there. They looked towards Janeway like an audience of an amphitheater looking down to the center of the stage.

"I don't buy that story." Tom stated, "How can one man destroy the Borg Hive on his own, a misfire in the transwarp conduit? Give me a break."

Janeway nodded, "I agree." She said, "It's too hard for me to believe that a single man could take out the Borg with just a simple accident." 

"We shall find out with in a short time." Tuvok stated. 

****

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Vash and Hugh walked down the hallways of Voyager with a security guard behind them at all times. Vash kept looking back at the security guard that was on the two of them like a hawk to a mouse. His blue eyes kept looking at the yellow uniformed security guard wondering when he was going to draw his phaser out. 

"You're uncomfortable Vash." Hugh stated

"I am." Vash replied still walking and looking back.

"We have to remember that they are not as open to the Borg as you are right now. Though you were hesitant of me when we first met."

Vash nodded, "Yeah. That's true." 

"We simply have to be patient with them." 

Within the next few minutes the guard behind them called, "This is the science lab."

Vash and Hugh turned to look at another steel door, a door that was like every door that they had passed. Simply a copy of a copy, they wandered in to find a lab with equipment, monitors, lab tables and three people, Harry Kim, B'Elanna Torres, and Seven. 

Hugh and Vash came in and smiled. 

The sight of a Borg smiling made Harry and B'Elanna grimace.

"I see that you are displeased with a Borg drone here." Hugh stated as he looked at the disgusted faces of Harry and B'Elanna.

"I was Borg." Seven added

"You do not have the full implants that I do and that is what makes them uncomfortable around me."

"Perhaps."

Vash rose his hands, "Alright!" He shouted, "Let's get started."

Harry was covering his ears, "Yeah." 

Hugh stepped over to B'Elanna who had a data extractor in her hand ready to find the memory module.

"I've heard about this drone." B'Elanna stated, "A single Borg Drone found among the wreckage of a scout ship."

"Correct." Seven stated as she stood by and watched B'Elanna work with the extractor, "He was taken in by the crew of the Starship designated Enterprise. During that time he became sentient of his own existence, using I instead of we. He was returned to the Borg in the hopes that individuality would spread through the collective. Their efforts failed."

"I disagree Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One." Hugh interrupted

"You will refer to me as Seven." She snapped calmly

"I apologize, Seven." Hugh said, "We didn't fail, there were those of us within the Borg who wanted to be both individual and collective at the same time. So we started our own colony in which we could use our Borg technology yet still maintain our sense of our own individuality." 

"That's when I met him." Vash stepped in, "I was just wandering through the Alpha Quadrant and I happened to meet him."

"What made you come out here?" Harry asked

"We accidentally traveled into an area known as the Badlands and were suddenly pulled here into the Delta Quadrant." Vash answered

"That's how we got here." Harry smiled

"In that case, we share a certain bond." 

"I've found the module." B'Elanna called out as she copied the data into the computer, she punched it up on the screen. 

"Set it to five years ago." Hugh commanded

B'Elanna begrudgingly accepted and punched in the date into the computer. All they saw on the science stations screen was static like watching a TV on a non-existing station. Until they began to hear voices, garbled voices that sounded as if mixed together in a melting pot. Hugh stepped forward to clear up the reception.

"During the accident my memory module was damaged." Hugh explained, "So there will be fragmentary clips." 

On the screen it was suddenly clear, the saw an unclear picture but a very distinct vision. They saw Borg alcoves like a beehive, stretching endlessly, and the view seemed to bounce up and down as well as left and right as if it was a home made video. The angel turned and they saw a Borg woman who looked as if she was wearing a dress of Borg implants from her shoulders down. 

They heard her voice, a seductive tone even with the static, "Why have you come here?"

"I've come…" The voice was lost only to be replaced by static

"Irrational to find one individual among the Borg." This woman said.

Seven looked at the screen with her lips parted and her eyes narrowed as if reading small print, "It's the Borg Queen." She whispered.

"You will be assimilated." The Queen stated, "Your resistance is futile."

From the camera's point of view it saw drones coming in left and right marching in like ants. The sounds of their footsteps and the whirring of their implants going on like a church choir. Then from the mesh of sounds of the Borg a voice began to scream and a pulsing white light began to burst out from behind the camera.

"Run Hugh!" The voice screamed, "RUN!"

Static, the memory was over. 

Hugh explained, "After the transwarp conduit began to malfunction the cube itself was destroyed and so was the hive that it was stationed at."

Another meeting was called among the bridge crew and the video was shown to the senior staff. They watched the Borg Queen having a short conversation with someone near the camera, the Borg drones marching in from all around and then the light that ended with static. 

"After we came here to the delta quadrant." Hugh explained, "At least 11 years ago, we've been making our way with a small ship all this way to earth. It has taken us this long because of the troubles we've had to face and the extensive damage that the Angel Arm had to face. We were lucky that you found us even at such a crucial time." 

"We are happy to lend a hand." Janeway smiled outstretching her arms, "Now that I've seen your story first hand, I'm willing to allow you to stay on board, but I need a guarantee from Hugh."

"What is that?" Hugh asked

"That you will not assimilate my crew." 

"I no longer possess the ability to assimilate anyone, Captain." 

"That's right." Vash smiled, "I helped remove those things a long time ago, but I think that my Borg friend here needs to get some energy back. Do you have anything where he can regenerate?"

"I have my alcove on Voyager." Seven volunteered, "You can regenerate there in Cargo Bay 2."

Hugh smiled, "I thank you, Seven." 

Vash turned to Hugh, "While your doing that, I'm going to go get something yummy to eat." 

"Then it's settled." Janeway said to Vash and Hugh, "Welcome to Voyager's crew." 

****

Â 

Vash headed down the mess hall, though it took some help from the computer to get there. He walked through the doors into the mess hall to find Starfleet officers eating and conversing. He even saw B'Elanna Torres and Tom Paris eating lunch together at one of the smaller tables. Yet when he walked through those doors he saw the faces of the officers start to stare at him. Could it have been because of his coat that caught their attention, was it his hair or was it because he was dancing his way into the mess hall?

He didn't care he was just moving or rather grooving his way to the mess hall counter. 

"Yeah." He smiled as he looked at the bountiful food that lay in front of him.

A slightly pudgy Talaxian came up to Vash, "Oh, it's you Vash." He smiled, "We we're never properly introduced in the briefing room." He reached out his hand to Vash.

Vash reached his gloved hand over to him and shook it.

"My name is Neelix, I am Voyager's chef." He introduced

"You already know me." Vash smiled as he began to pose muscularly, "The man who will slaughter the innocent, does the most evil of evil deeds with the price of 60 billion double dollars on his head? Yes, I am that man." 

He began to pose so comically that Neelix began to laugh like an alien Santa Clause. 

"That always works." Vash smiled

"well, what can I get for you?" Neelix asked

"Oh, I would like two dozen doughnuts please."   
"Two dozen?" Neelix asked, "What kind?"

"Oh, an assortment would be alright." 

"Coming right up." Neelix went to the replicator in the kitchen and began to prepare the order that Vash asked for. 

Meanwhile not too far away from Vash, B'Elanna and Tom began to speak with each other about these new editions to the crew, Vash and Hugh.

"It still gives me the creeps to look at a drone that close." She stated, "But this guy, all I can say is that he's probably the biggest goof ball I've ever seen in my life."

Tom looked at him, "Yeah, I still don't buy that story of him making a small accident that blew up the whole Borg Hive." 

"As Janeway once told Harry, weird is part of the job." 

Back with Vash, he looked over and saw Neelix bring over a plate stacked with the assortment of two dozen doughnuts. Chocolate, glazed, jelly filled, nut covered, cream filled and cake doughnuts. Vash went over to one of the tables with the plate of doughnuts in front of him he took one of the cake doughnuts. He began to speak softly but it was loud enough for Tom and B'Elanna to hear. 

"Ah." He exhaled, "A large ship at last, it's so wonderful to be around so many happy people. Yes, it's a lucky, lucky day." He sniffed the aroma of the cake doughnut, "Bonjure, Chatme. That's smell so tasty, it smells like cake baked in honey. And without further adieu."

He sank his teeth into the doughnut with a smile that stretched from ear to ear on his face. When he swallowed the tasty morsel he began to laugh loudly like a little child. 

Just then, a child walked into the mess hall it was Naomi Wildman. She came to see Neelix about one of the holodeck stories that she wanted him to go to. She came in and gazed at the beautiful red coat that the blonde man was wearing. She saw him sink his teeth into one of the two dozen doughnuts. She heard him make his loud laugh, she smiled at it and walked over to Neelix. 

Neelix saw her out of the corner of his eyes, "Naomi." He smiled, "have you met this man that just came on board Voyager?"

"I just saw him." Naomi reported, "He's eating doughnuts."

"Two dozen of them to be exact."

She began to look speculative and confused, "Can he eat all that?"

"That's what I'm going to find out." 

Vash sat with the doughnut in his hand as he began to listen to the conversations going on around him like an echo in an old English church. 

"I need help to recalibrate the EPS conduits." A voice called out

"I'm going to fix up the frequency of the transporters." Another reported

Vash began to shiver and shake as if a cold breeze just pasted him, he suddenly began to loose the grip on the cake doughnut. It fell softly onto the small pile of sweetened goodness that he asked for.   
"These are good." He began to cry softly, he placed his face into his gloved hands. 

B'Elanna and Tom stood up looked over at Vash with confusion. 

"Now that's weird." Tom whispered to B'Elanna, "A moment ago he was eating doughnuts and laughing. Now he's crying like a little kid." 

"I know." B'Elanna sneered, "I've never seen a man cry like that."

Neelix and Naomi were having the same experience, 

"He's a grown up." Naomi observed, "I thought grown-ups didn't cry."

Vash was only a few feet away, yet he heard both comments about him. 

"Is there something wrong with that?" He asked both parties about his crying, "Everyone feels like crying sometimes." He never moved his face from his gloves he stayed perfectly still with the small pile of doughnuts in front of him yet he could only see darkness.

Naomi stepped forward and asked, "Why are you crying, mister?" 

"Someone I loved had taken away from me. I miss her so much." 

"Did she die?" Naomi asked placing her hand on Vash's red sleeve

"No, she was kidnapped." 

****

Â 

Seven of Nine was not satisfied with what she saw on that screen in the science lab. Seeing the Borg queen, drones and a light wasn't enough for her. She was working frantically on the data that was extracted from Hugh's memory module. She began compiling, extracting and compiling, but she didn't want any kind of distraction from anyone, so the door was locked.

Someone override the command and opened the door, it was Commander Chakotay. 

"Seven." He called, "It's three in the morning why are you still in here?"

"I am not convinced of the story that was given by 3rd of 5 and Vash the Stampede." Seven answered

"So you decided to stay up all night to prove them wrong?"

"Correct."

"Not very trusting are you."

"I don't trust a man who is known through out the collective and several species as a Borg Killer."

"He gave his story that it was an accident." Chakotay shrugged

Seven kept working and working, with the computer screen moving objects and replaying the video back and forth without sound. The video itself had more within it.

"I still don't believe him." Seven stated, "I've already compiled data from Hugh's memory module that we haven't seen before. As a matter of fact there's pieces of data in the video and audio, which I believed was covered up."

Chakotay shook his head, "Alright Seven. Let's see it." 

The video played back full screen in the astrometrics lab and was viewed by the only two audience members.

They saw the Borg Queen, "Vash." She said, "Why have you come here." 

"I came here looking for a girl you assimilated." Vash voice rang out with static crackling it's reception.

"Irrational. Searching for one individual in the Borg collective." 

Here was the part that Seven had found,

"Give her back to me!" Vash's voice screamed, 

The camera turned to Vash and the next series of events made Chakotay take Seven's side instantaneously. They saw Vash draw out his gun and point it directly at the Borg queen, but he didn't pull the trigger, the rectangular area above the barrel began to emit a light and it's metal sidings began to pop off with the screws. Within the concealed area was a black cylinder suspended in mid air as if by magic. It began to spin and spin like a toy top with a sphere of yellow sparks coming from it. 

Vash's sleeve began to rip off revealing his skin turning from its fair complexion to a gray scaly texture. His arm began to merge with the gun in a singular cannon arm with it's gray scaly texture covering all of it. Within a matter of seconds the center of the cannon began to bulge as if a sphere began to grow inside of it. It expanded holding the two parts of the arm cannon by three strands. In the center of this bulge was a sphere of light that began to block out the green glow that was familiar to the Borg ship.

The Borg drones stopped in their march and began to step backwards.

Vash pointed this arm cannon upward

"Run Hugh!" he screamed, "RUN!" 

Suddenly the cannon fired, in a shot of white light it consumed the field of vision that the camera had, and all that was left was static. 

Chakotay watched the replay with the sound going and watching over and over again Vash's arm merging with that gun. 

"Why was he lying?" He wondered

"I suggest we call the senior staff." Seven said while the replay kept playing on and on and on, over and over again. 

To be continued…

****

Author's Notes: Now things seem to be growing a little more complex then what some might think. The qeustion is what is Vash hiding that could be so horrible that he'd have to go to great lengths to hide it? Seven on the other hand is having her own doubts about this man. She already knows that he's the Killer of the Collective, but after hearing his story she's still not convinced and now she wants to prove that she's right. But at what cost will the truth bring to Vash or Hugh?

Come back for more chapters of this odd couple.


	3. The Truth

****

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Star Trek Voyager, Trigun, or any other copyrighted information. All Copyrights belong to their respective owners. 

****

Reader's **Note:** This is a re-posting. 

Star Trek Voyager

&

Trigun

Reminiscence

Chapter 3: The Truth

****

Â 

In the Borg alcove of Cargo bay 2, Seven was sleeping or rather regenerating. As she did she was dreaming again, but her dreams felt more like memories. She could only hear two voices that of a little girl and the other was that of Vash the Stampede. 

"The ticket to the future is always blank." She heard Vash's voice ring out in her mind.

She saw flashes of images pass in front of her eyes and they passed so fast that Seven couldn't keep track of them. She heard those voices and she felt her body move even if she was standing still. She felt herself being picked up by someone and feeling her fists pounding against someone's back. She heard the sounds of marching footsteps, phasers being fired, and even old-fashioned gun shots. 

"Let me go!" She heard the little girl scream

"I can't allow that!" Vash shouted, "You'd be assimilated!"

"I don't care! Mama! Papa!" 

Seven then gazed into a roaring camp fire and hearing a song that she heard in Vash' voice. 

_So, on the first evening a pebble from somewhere out of no where drops upon the dreaming world._

So, on the second celestial evening all the children of the pebble join hands and compose a waltz.

The song itself was just like Vash, so familiar that it was maddening. 

"What's your name." The girl asked

"I am Vash the Stampede." 

Seven awakened feeling weak, sweaty and feeling her cheat heave in its heavy breaths. 

"So that's it." Seven thought, she suddenly remembered why she loves the color red, why Vash is so familiar and she knew why she had those memories. 

"You seem troubled." A voice called to Seven.

Seven immediately looked and found the Borg named Hugh or 3rd of 5 as Seven referred. She looked at him with contempt.

"I am not troubled." She said

"I am no stranger to individuality." Hugh philosophized, "I know that you are not either and a nature of being an individual is to cover one's own weakness. I know that you are troubled."

Seven stepped down from her alcove, "I have a briefing to go to. You are to report to this meeting as well."

"I understand." 

****

Â 

"I think you both have some explaining to do." Janeway scolded both Hugh and Vash

Vash and Hugh looked at the screen in the briefing room in shame. They watched in both indifference and horror. They saw that the crew of Voyager had found out what they had been hiding. Now the two of them would have to stand and face the music of their concealment.

Vash saw himself create the Angel arm on the screen with the Borg interior in the background and the static in the foreground. He heard his own voice start to scream at Hugh, shouting run, run, then the light and finally static. 

The video stopped

"What do you two have to say for yourself?" Janeway asked

"We can't keep the secret from them any longer." Hugh whispered to Vash

"I know, Hugh." Vash whispered, "I know." 

Vash turned with his eyes closed, he opened them to show them all this beautiful blue eyes. He took a seat with Hugh at his side. 

"I am not human." Vash started, "I am a genetically enhanced human. What you've seen in that video is a weapon that is called, _the Angel Arm._ A weapon so powerful that it makes the Omega particle look like a fire cracker. The gun is only half of the Angel Arm, it needs my arm to complete it. It was this weapon and my careless emotions that allowed it to fire. I had too much love in my heart for the one that I had been searching for. I don't expect to be forgiven for my sins." Vash hung his head in shame, looking at the pale green conference table, "Sin begets sin, I know this too well. I am ready to accept my punishment for my crimes."

"Crimes?" Janeway asked, "You killed Borg. You have no idea what a blessing this is to find someone like you who can actually fight the Borg."

"I have been running from them for the past five years, with Hugh at my side, I couldn't be assimilated into the Borg. So their only option was to kill me and well they should. I killed their people!" Vash cried looking at the Captain with his face streaming with tears, "I did it! I took their lives! I didn't see it clearly, if I kept my vision clear I could have found another way out of it!"

"You didn't have a choice, from what we've seen." Janeway reassured, "You had to do what you must in order to survive." 

"I did it because I wanted to see her! I had the choice to stay away to forget about her, but I loved her so much!"

"Who?" Seven asked

Vash dried his tears with his red sleeve, "A little girl I knew named Anika, Anika Hansen." 

The name sent shock waves through the room, especially to Seven. Suddenly the pieces came together, Vash went to Borg space to find her, and killed those Borg drones because of the love he felt for her. Along with the hate of the Borg knowing that he would never see her again. Little did Vash know that Anika Hansen; the little girl that he was searching for was just across the table.

"She was taken away from me by the Borg." Vash explained, "I became mad with anger. I spent the next 16 years trying to find her."

"In his search." Hugh continued as Vash continued to dry his tears, "He came into my company, he told me that he was trying to get to Borg space to find one individual. I thought that it was a hopeless task but he was determined enough to risk his life. It is a quality that I admire, so I joined him in his quest. When we reached the Borg Hive here in the Delta Quadrant, we were met by the Borg Queen, whom was the person you saw in the video, she told us that we were searching for a needle in the haystack. It was a hopeless search, this enraged Vash so much that the Angel Arm began to take shape. As soon as he fired it, I activated my emergency transporter. I got back to our Roundabout and I got Vash out from Ground Zero. We simply went to transwarp in our Roundabout and headed back for Earth and never looked back."

"I never found Anika." Vash cried, even though his tears were dried, he still continued to cry, "I feel alone. I've been doing so much searching for her, that I've nearly come to the brink of madness. I had to start over, since the ticket to the future is always blanks. Now I realize the futility of this search."

"You're wrong." Seven stood up.

Vash looked at her with his eyes that yearned while they cried.

Before Seven could even make her explanation, a call came in through the COM.

"Captain, please come to the bridge!" The voice shouted as if it was in the middle of a battle, "Long range sensors has picked up a Borg Ship." 

"Oh no." Janeway groaned

The senior staff got up and headed straight out to the bridge, Vash and Hugh came close behind. Seven was about to call to Vash to tell him who she really is, but he was gone before she could even get a word out of her lungs and past her lips. She could only go to the bridge and face the enemy.

The crew was at their stations, "The ship is within visual range." 

"On screen." Janeway commanded

There on the screen they saw a Borg ship, but the Borg ship was a different shape then the others that the crew of Voyager has ever encountered. The ship wasn't a cube, it was a dodecahedron, a twelve sided object. It was massive, even at a distance it seemed to take up the whole screen on the bridge. 

"They're hailing us." Harry reported

"Let's hear them." Janeway said, "I'm open to discussion."

On the screen they saw her, the Borg queen with her Borg implant "dress" covering most of her body below her shoulders. Her head without hair, pale from the extract of all the color for the Borg and implants running from the back of her head like hair. 

"Starship Voyager." She said, "We know you have the human known as Vash the Stampede and the drone designated 3rd of 5. Hand them over to us and we'll spare your vessel."

"You have no right to take their lives!" Vash screamed

"Vash." The Queen said seductively as if trying to seduce Vash, "I know that you're a peace loving gunman. You wouldn't want to see harm to that vessel, so give yourself up and we'll spare them."

Vash exhaled

"No Vash." Hugh called, "Don't. You have to keep moving. To find her, keep your vision clear!"

"My vision is clear, Hugh." Vash looked to his Borg friend, "I'll give myself up."

"No." Janeway said and looked to the screen, "I won't give him up to you, even if you give us a passage to the Alpha quadrant itself! Screen off! Shields up and Red alert!"

The screen went blank only with the Borg Dodecahedron in it's sights, the lights went dim showing the lights of the consoles and the flood of red light as well as the blaring noise of the red alert.

"What are you doing?" Vash asked Janeway, "They'll kill you."

"If it's to save you." Janeway said, "Then I'll allow it."

Vash smiled, "You're more like me than I am." 

"We try. Evasive maneuvers, go to Warp 2, ready phasers and torpedoes. It may be a loosing battle but I'm going to fight to the death." 

"Even though their tactical advantage is significantly above ours." Tuvok stated

Vash suddenly formulated an idea, he remembered back to his home planet, Gunsmoke. He remembered that his brother Knives, the one who made the guns, created a similar blast with the guns without using the Angel Arm. 

"Captain!" Vash called, "I'm going down to the shuttle bay, I want you to open the doors and when I give the signal. I want you to deactivate the force field."

"You'll be blown out into space." Harry explained

"Not me, remember? I'm Vash the Stampede. Just get it ready."

"Good luck Vash." Janeway smiled as she took her captains' seat.

Vash dashed into the turbo lift and made his frantic 200-yard dash through the ship to the shuttle bay. His whole body felt like it was on fire, as he felt his read duster flap behind him like a super heroes cape. He dashed and ran with his boots thumping against the floor until at last he found it. The shuttle bay.

He dashed in and found rows up on rows of shuttles, he made his call to the bridge. 

"Captain this is Vash!" He called, "I'm ready." 

He reached for his gun, the Colt 45 Long Eagle, he made a fast walk over to one of the shuttles he hid behind it like it was a rock.   
"Open the shuttle bay doors!" Vash screamed as he held out his gun towards the enormous doors of the shuttle bay. He saw the shuttle bay door slowly open and he watched as the force field lights came on. Making its bright blue hue across the shuttle bay door as it opened. 

"Ready when you are Vash." Harry's voice came through the COM above the blaring noises of the alert.

"Get ready to deactivate the force field on my mark!" Vash shouted, "3…" He aimed the gun to the Borg ship, "2…" He aimed it's sights at it, "1…" He felt his finger on the trigger getting ready to pull it, knowing that the thousands of drones that were on there. All of them used to be living, breathing individuals. Do the lives of a thousand drones outweigh the lives of over one hundred individuals? 

Vash made his decision, "NOW!" He shouted, 

The force field was deactivated and the hue was now red, Vash felt the suction as all the objects were being blown out into space. He felt the weight of his gun in his hand as the hard air brushed past him, he pulled back the hammer with his thumb as he heard containers being knocked over the shuttle crafts. He pulled back his finger and he felt as well as heard the single click that sent the bullet flying out through space and right at the Borg ship. 

On the bridge, the senior officers watched as a ball of light consumed the very center of the Borg ship. It began to combust within itself, and suddenly the ship exploded into the blackness of space. 

"Go to warp 7!" Janeway shouted

"Yes, ma'am." Tom complied as Voyager made its warp 7 dash into space. 

"Reactivate the force field!" Janeway commanded to Harry, "And close the door!"

She spun around hoping to find Seven and the Doctor there, but they were both gone.

They were down at the door of the shuttle bay, Seven frantically worked the controls to find out the status inside the room. 

"It's being recompressed." Seven reported to the doctor

"We have to get in there, he might be suffering from oxygen depletion."

"I'm aware of that." She looked at the screen; "it's safe now."

She stepped up to the door and watched the enormous doors open she wanted to find Vash soon. She found him, he was down on the ground, completely still like an animal that had died of it's own old age. 

Seven dashed to Vash, she turned him over and sat down holding his head in her lap. She felt his neck for a pulse, she began to smile showing her beautiful teeth.

"He's alive." She said with glee

"It's amazing that this poor man could have survived that." The doctor said as he ran his scan over the body, "Let's get him to sick bay."

****

Â 

In sick bay, the Doctor, Tom and Seven were working together to help Vash. He seemed stable, but his heart rate seemed low. 

"I don't know what else to do." The doctor said, "He seems alright, but he's still unconscious." 

"Perhaps we should give him mouth to mouth." Tom smiled

"Oh, please." The doctor said sarcastically

Seven kept staring at Vash's face, then she as well as the others started to hear something from Vash's lips. 

"So…" He sang, "On the… first... evening... a pebble… from somewhere… out of no where…"

"Drops upon the dreaming world." Seven continued Vash's verse, she reached down to stroke his cheek, "So, on the second celestial evening all the children of the pebble join hands and compose a waltz. Sound life."

Tom and the doctor looked at Vash with Seven, "Where did she hear that song?" Tom asked the doctor.

"I don't know." The doctor shrugged, "I've never heard it before."

As this bedside song continued, the captain walked in and heard the third verse from Seven's lips. She stepped in wanting to know if Vash was alive and well, but she heard Seven singing to Vash

"So… On the third night the child of the waltz strikes the web on the surface of the world."

The captain smiled, "That was beautiful Seven. Where did you hear that song?"

Seven never looked at the captain, she kept her vision on Vash's unconscious face, "He sang to me when I was a child."

"As a child?" Janeway asked, "You told us that you were assimilated as a child and that you only knew your parents. How did he know you as a child?"

"I'm suddenly remembering those memories captain." Seven stated as she began to remember the events of the past, "When the Raven was attacked by the Borg, I was about to be assimilated, then I was rescued by this man. Vash the Stampede, I kicked and screamed, begging him to take me back because I wanted to be with my mom and dad. He wouldn't allow it, he said that I would be assimilated. I continued to kick and scream but he kept moving, escaping the Borg with out lives."

"We came to a small M-class moon and stayed there for two months, but those two months were like an eternity. He taught me how to pilot, how to start a fire, and he taught me to sing. Sound life, was the only song he taught me. Then the Borg attacked us again, I was assimilated but they killed him. I lost all hope and gave up the struggle against the Borg knowing that I wouldn't see Vash ever again. Now, I know that he's alive."

She bent down and hugged Vash, "He's back."

"A long lost love." Tom smiled

"A classic romance." The doctor rubbed his chin

"How is he, Doctor?" Janeway came up behind him

The doctor took his hand away from his chin and gave his prognosis, "He seems to be alive but he seems to have suffered a mild to a nearly severe concussion. My guess is that during the blow out in the cargo bay he was either hit by a container or thrown against the wall." 

"You're right about that." A voice called out,

The eyes of the doctor, Janeway, Tom and Seven turned toward the voice. They saw Vash sitting up rubbing the back of his neck, "I never saw that container coming at me, but I sure as hell felt it."

All four of them looked at Vash in surprise, but the shock was broken as a call came in from main engineering.

"Captain." B'Elanna's voice came in, "We're experiencing serious problems with the warp core. It's going to breach! We have to drop out of warp!"

Vash jumped right off the bio bed, and headed for the door, but the doctor stopped him in his tracks.

"Stop, cowboy." He said, "I'm not letting you down there in your condition, you're going to have to stay here."

"No way." Vash shook his head, "If I don't get down there, this ship might explode or we'll be stuck and vulnerable to the Borg once again. They want me and they'll stop at nothing to kill me." 

"My answer is still, no Vash." 

Vash shrugged, "If you're a hologram, then I'm sorry about this."

Vash stepped back and then dashed through the doctor's holographic image to the door and down the hallway.

"That was an extremely rude thing to do to a hologram." The doctor moaned, "Has he no respect?" 

"He," Seven stated as she headed for the door, "is a man who will not allow innocent people to die. Just like all of us, I'm surprised he's not a member of Starfleet." 

****

Â 

In main engineering B'Elanna was working furiously as the warp core began to spout exhaust from it's ducts in the matter and anti-matter containment. 

"We're loosing containment!" She shouted, "Initiate warp core ejection."

"We can't do that at Warp!" An engineer shouted

"Just do it!"

Among the commotion of noise, alert sirens blaring and exhaust spouting a voice shouted, "WAIT!"

B'Elanna looked and saw the red coated Vash step into main engineering.

"Are you crazy?!" She shouted, "The warp core is about to breach!"

"I know that, do what you can. I'll stop it." 

"How?" 

"Just do what you can!" 

Vash stepped towards the nearly destruction warp core, he looked up at the blue diamond colored cylinder. He placed his hands upon it like a spiritual healer along with his forehead against the steel support beams. 

"Come on, big guy." He whispered, "Don't give up on us."

Behind the frantic and scrambling teams of engineers, Seven stepped in and looked at Vash. She watched as the Warp Core still ejected it's exhaust, the alarms still blared and people were hurrying to find a solution. In this pandemonium she watched Vash start to glow and the warp core began to glow along with him. 

"Lt. Torres!" An engineer shouted, "The warp core is starting to stabilize!"

"Impossible!" B'Elanna screamed, "It was about to breach."

"It's true. Pressure, temperature, matter and anti-matter containment in the Warp core is coming down to acceptable limits."

"How is this happening?" Seven asked herself as she stepped towards the mysterious Vash

"Warp core is now stabilized." B'Elanna reported, she looked up at Vash who had now taken his hands away from the core. 

"You're a survivor." Vash whispered to the core as if it was a person.

"How the hell did you do that?" B'Elanna asked

"I helped it." Vash stated as he turned around and headed towards the door, "I think I should get to sickbay."

B'Elanna shrugged, "Alright everyone." She called, "Back to your stations, let's keep an eye on the core." 

****

Â 

After the events in main engineering Vash went back to sick bay where the doctor did officially gave his own seal of approval. Even though Vash stampeded through him when the warp core was about to breach. Vash had found his way to the holodeck, strangely enough though, this room was very much like the "recreational room" on board the Project Seeds Ship. 

"Computer," He called, "Create a scenic country side, with a hill and an apple tree at the top with a river flowing down underneath it with mountains in the distance and forests in the valleys."

"Specify weather." The computer asked

"A sunny day with minimal clouds." Vash commanded

The computer complied and the gray metallic walls melted away and it showed what Vash wanted. He stood on top of a hill with a large apple tree hanging over him with a river running at the foot of it and off into the distance. It ran off with forests on either side of it to the mountains in the distance with the sky so blue above that was poked with white fluffy clouds.

"Perfect." Vash smiled as he sat down to admire the view.

His sitting position went to a lying down one, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his yellow-round-lens-w-shaped-temple sunglasses. He looked up at the sky seeing it's blue color in peripheral vision from the sunglasses.

"The sky is unbelievably blue here." Vash thought, "Rem, Meryl, Millie, Wolfwood. All of you loved it as much as I did, but now none of you are here with me. What do I do if I find Anika? I've been searching for so long that I didn't think what I'd do once I found her. What if she's still Borg, or maybe what if she's separated from the collective? Would she have grown into a beautiful woman? What do I do with that?"

As he asked himself these questions the door to the holodeck appeared behind him. He heard the loud whir as it opened. He didn't move, he wanted to stay in this position for as long as he could. He heard soft footsteps, but he still didn't move.

"Vash?" a sweet soft tone called to him, this time he sat up again and looked over his shoulder and saw Seven standing there.

"Hi." He smiled

"May I sit with you?" She asked

Vash nodded slowly

Seven sat down on the grass, her brown jumpsuit stretching over her body and she spread her legs across the grass. 

"I have to tell you something Vash." Seven started, "That girl you've been searching for. Do you remember what her favorite color was?"

"Yes." Vash answered, "She loved the color red, just like my coat, and in the language of flowers as I told her, the color red means, Courage and…"

"Determination." Seven took over, "It is also the color of Heaven, a color for dreamers, poets and lovers." 

"Yes." Vash said, "But how do you know."

Seven turned herself over to a lying down on her stomach position and leaned over to whisper into Vash's ear, "I am Anika Hansen." 

To be continued…

****

Author's Notes: In order to do some of the things that I was able to write about in this story I had to study Trigun in great detail to make sure that I didn't go out of character for Vash. However I had to study Voyager as well to make sure that I didn't take anyone else out of character too. The hanging question here now is what's going to happen from this point on?

Come back for more chapters of Star Trek Voyager: Reminiscence.


	4. Love or Hate

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Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Star Trek Voyager, Trigun, or any other copyrighted information. All Copyrights belong to their respective owners. 

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Reader's **Note:** This is a re-posting. 

Star Trek Voyager

&

Trigun

Reminiscence

Chapter 4: Love or Hate?

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On the bridge, events seemed as smooth as before. The course was set to the Alpha quadrant and life seemed to get back to normal for the crew of Voyager. At least for a moment until Harry Kim saw a small blip on his sensors.

"Uh-oh." He uttered, his voice of concern was loud enough to be heard by the logical Lt. Commander Tuvok. 

"Uh-oh?" He asked

"I'm detecting a transwarp signature on long range sensors."

"The Borg ship?" Chakotay asked

The captain was in her ready room reading in the reports on Vash and the events that happened in the shuttle bay.

"I don't know." Harry reported, "But it seems to be coming in at sub warp speed." He watched the sensors and watched the blip change speed, "Wait, it just jumped to warp 2." 

"Go to red alert." Chakotay commanded, "Chakotay to Janeway please come to the bridge."

Janeway came to the bridge from he ready room, possibly hyped up on whatever blend of coffee that she had programmed into the repicator.

"Report." She commanded

"We've got a transwarp signature moving towards us." Harry reported, "We think that it might be the Borg ship." 

"We know that the Borg can regenerate but from that kind of damage that Vash gave them?"

"At our current speed," Harry estimated from the computer, "If their rate of regeneration stays constant they'll reach transwarp speed in approximately three hours."

"Vash did some serious damage." Tom commented, "Whatever he did."

"Call Seven, Vash and Hugh. We need their help on this one." 

The tension on the bridge began to grow so thick that it was like the husk of a coconut, hard and nearly unbreakable. Yet there was a twinge of hope among the crew of Voyager, Vash the Stampede. 

****

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On the holodeck Vash held Seven in his arms, he held her as if holding onto a long lost lover. On some level that was the case, Seven was a long lost friend of Vash and now the two of them had finally found each other in this confusion of life. 

Seven felt odd when Vash had his arms wrapped around her, just a day ago Vash was just another human to her. Just another irrational being in an irrational universe, but now she understood a feeling. It came over her like a warm blanket, the feeling was affection, she now knew what it was liked to be loved. Though she knew what it was to be loved by someone, but it was so long ago that Seven had nearly forgotten it. Until this man in his red coat came back into her life. She reached up feeling the weight of her arms as she lifted them; she lifted them up to wrap them around Vash. 

"How?" Her rational mind asked herself, "How can I experience this? I was Borg, has it been that long since I was on that planet with Vash? Yes. It has been that long, too long."  
She lay her head on his shoulders as they embraced each other, the romance that was blooming in this holodeck simulation had come to an end when a call came through.

"Seven of Nine, Vash, Hugh." The voice was Tuvok's, "Please report to the bridge."

Vash and Seven broke the embrace.

"To be continued." Vash smiled

Seven began to show a small hint of a smile but it wasn't full

****

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Vash, Seven and Hugh came to the bridge to hear what the urgency was.

Vash and Seven stood side by side with each other like two lovers showing their affection in a unusually subtle way. With them stood Hugh, fully regenerated thanks to the Borg alcove in Cargo bay 2. All three of them stood on the bridge waiting to hear the bad news.

"What is it?" Vash asked

"There's a transwarp signature coming our way." Janeway reported the bad news with the look of doom in her eyes, the same look she gave when the crew first came into Borg space, "We think that it might be the Borg."

"The same ship?" Hugh asked

"We're not sure. All we know is that it'll be within range of us in three hours."

"Cutting short aren't they?" Vash asked

"They are Borg." Seven stated

There were a few smiles on the bridge but this was a serious time, a plan was needed for this desperate hour. 

"This will give us enough time to make one modification." Hugh stated, "We can modify the main deflector to admit a random shield."

Janeway crossed her arms, "I'm listening."

"Vash and I designed a shield that would modify it's own variance to Borg weaponry. In essence it would adapt itself faster than the Borg themselves. This is how Vash and I survived in the Angel Arm against the Borg." 

"How long will it take to make the modifications?" Harry asked leaning against the console. He listened with extreme intent, then again when going up against an enemy like this any kind of option would be a good one. 

"With your technology and with the time we have," Hugh calculated, "I would estimate approximately 2 and a half hours."

"Doesn't exactly give us enough time to test it doesn't it?" Tom said keeping his eyes and hands on the controls of Voyager. He made sure that his hands were near the controls in case Janeway needed a new course or heading to evade the Borg ship.

"Get to it." Janeway commanded, "keep me posted on your progress."

"Understood." The trio said in unison

****

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In the rooms around the main deflector, teams of engineers were working non-stop like ants desperately saving their home. Each of them walked from one part of the ship to the other to complete whatever tasks they had been asked to do. While others were working with the main deflector dish, one of these teams was Seven, Hugh and Vash. 

Seven was having her doubts about whether this would work. Either it was her pessimism or it was her Borg realism that was telling her that this wouldn't work. 

"How effective has this method been for you?" She asked

"Well," Vash shrugged, "We're not assimilated." 

Seven didn't say anything; her question was answered in the most rhetorical way. 

"I will need one of Voyagers bio-pack circuits." Hugh stated

"You'll find them in main engineering." Seven instructed

"Thank you." 

Hugh left Vash and Seven to be alone, actually the bio-pack cuircut was just an excuse, he could see the sparks that flew between Seven and Vash. He understood the emotion known as love, since he was an individual longer than anyone else who has left the Borg he understood human nature better than anyone within the Borg collective. This is why he left Vash and Seven to be alone with each other. Now that they were alone, Seven couldn't help herself. She dropped whatever tool she held on and reached over to Vash and hugged him.

"Why?" She whispered into his ear, "You protected me before, why was I assimilated."

"They couldn't assimilate me." Vash answered wrapping his arms around Seven, "I tried to fight them off with both of my guns, but I ran out of bullets. When I ran out of bullets they tried to kill me. While they were trying to kill me, they took you away from me. I'm sorry." 

Seven suddenly felt something wet drip onto her face, she looked up at the towering Vash and saw that he was crying. She felt that a sharp pain in her heart, at this point she would have called the doctor but it didn't seem to matter with the Vash she spent that time with. 

"I will protect you this time." Vash promised

****

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"Is the random shield ready?" Janeway asked Harry

Harry looked at his console and reported, "It's ready to be activated." 

"Do it." Janeway commanded

Harry brought the random shield online, while on the outside of Voyager it seemed as though it was covered in an elliptical shield of different colors. It was like the surface of a soap bubble, transparent and yet emitting the colors of a rainbow. 

"Random shield is holding and holding strong." Harry reported, "And the Borg ship will be here in about 30 minutes." 

Janeway turned to Chakotay in his seat next to hers, "Get the crew ready, battle stations."

"Here we go again." Chakotay shrugged

"This time we have some powerful friends." 

****

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Vash and Seven were in cargo bay 2, which is where Seven's alcove is and they stood there looking at each other. They were like this ever since that moment near the main deflector dish. Now that they were together, they thought that nothing could stop them with the help of Vash the Stampede. Yet there was a feeling of doom hanging above them like an ominous cloud about to pour rain down up on them. 

"There might be the possibility that we might not survive." Vash said

"Your pessimism is irrelevant." Seven said, "We will survive. Voyager's crew is strong, they have survived much worse than this."

"But, it's because of me that the Borg are coming, and it's because of me that they're not only after me but you too. If this doesn't work, then I won't have any choice but to surrender myself to the Borg."

"No!" Seven shouted as she grabbed onto Vash,

"I understand that you don't want to see me go, but as a wise Vulcan once said, _the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few._"

"I know that," Seven huffed as she held her face close to Vash's chest, which was now void of any metallic implants of the medieval medicine he was treated do, "but I just don't want to be alone again."

"I'm sure your dating someone on this ship." Vash smiled

"I am not." 

"What about Chakotay?" 

Seven looked up at him, her lips slightly open, her eyebrows close together, and her eyes searching.

"How did I know that?" Vash asked, he leaned down to Seven and whispered, "I pay attention." 

"If these will be our last day alive, then there's something I must tell you Vash." 

"What's that?" 

Seven leaned up to Vash, and stood on the tiptoe of her high-heeled shoes, "I love you." She said.

She let herself back down onto the heels and soles of her shoes to look at Vash's face. He seemed calm, at ease, as if he was expecting this. He looked to Vash with his light blue eyes, from being in the desert for so long and said, "I know." 

"Seven of Nine, Vash the Stampede, and Hugh, please report to the bridge" The captain called

"We're on our way." Vash called, he looked back to Seven, "Looks like this is it." 

****

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Vash, Hugh and Seven came to the bridge and took their places for this on coming battle.

"The Borg ship is within visual range." Harry called out

"On screen." Janeway commanded

On the screen the bridge crew saw not the Borg Dodecahedron, but they saw a Borg cube. Was this part of the Borg ship that they encountered just hours ago or was this another ship that was sent after them?

"Should we try hailing them?" Harry asked

"Hell no." Janeway said, "Red alert. Our shield is ready, let them come after us."

"Captain." Vash said, "If we know the Borg right, they'll see right through our plans. They'll probably find a way to break the defenses. Hugh and I have managed this long, but I wouldn't say that we're completely invulnerable against the Borg."

"I understand your point Vash." Janeway explained, "But we have to stand our ground if we're going to fight." 

Suddenly a call came in and at first the bridge crew thought it was the same Borg ultimatum, "We are the Borg, you will be assimilated." 

This time it was a different ultimatum, "WE are the Borg, hand over Vash the Stampede to us or die." 

"That's a nice change, from _you will be assimilated._" Janeway sneered

"So, all they want is me." Vash whispered to himself

"Fire at will." Janeway commanded.

Voyager made its barrage against the Borg ship, but it didn't have any effect and then the Borg ship made its attack against Voyager. The first shot didn't break through the shield, neither did the second shot or the third.

"How's our shield holding?" Janeway asked

"It's still holding at 100%" Harry called, "This random shield is a pretty good idea, Vash."

"It may be." Vash said, "But we can't survive forever like this."  
"Why not just go out there and fire your angel arm?" Tom asked

"No, it'll give the Borg another excuse to come after me. There's only one option for this ship and it's crew." 

Vash turned and headed for the turbo lift but as he turned he felt a hand on his right arm. He looked back and saw Seven, her eyes were wide and looked moist as if she was going to cry.

"Don't leave me." She said, 

"I'm sorry, Anika." Vash said, and then smiled, "Seven." 

"Please, don't go." Seven pleaded

Vash turned and held Seven close to him, he looked at her and brought his lips down onto hers, he kissed her. Even though this was the oddest of times to have romance, it was still happening in front of the bridge crew. Each of them watched this romance bloom before their own eyes, it was such an odd romance at that. A superior being who can kill the Borg with one shot had fallen in love with one of its former drones. Vash broke the kiss.

"I'm sorry, Seven." He said,

"What are you doing?" Janeway demanded

Vash dashed over to Harry's console and shoved him out of the way. He punched the controls and the bridge crew watched as he disappeared, he was transporting himself off of the bridge. 

"Where did he go?" Janeway asked

Harry looked at his console, "He's in the main shuttle bay."  
"Captain." Tuvok called, "The random shield is dropping and one of our shuttles is making an unscheduled departure." 

"Vash." Janeway said, "Get the shield back up."

"It is already back up, if Vash is on that shuttle craft he only disengaged it for a moment to leave Voyager."

"Open a channel to that shuttle." Janeway commanded to Harry

"Channel open." Harry reported

"Vash, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm giving you a chance to run." Vash answered

"But we have the random shield, isn't that enough?"

"No, the Borg always finds a way past our shields. This is the third shield that Hugh and I have used. Look, the Borg only want me, so let me lead them away; I have to fight this one-man war alone. So get the hell away from here, and live happily ever after!"

The channel is closed, on the main screen; the bridge crew saw the little shuttlecraft make its way off into the distance. Behind it, the massive Borg ship followed it. 

The crew watched with confusion, wondering why was this happening. 

"So, all they really wanted was just one man." Harry speculated, "Odd isn't it that the Borg could assimilated thousands of civilizations. But when someone like Vash comes along they concentrate all their efforts on him."

"Captain." Hugh called

"Yes?" Janeway asked

"I wish to leave Voyager to go after Vash." 

"Will you bring him back?" Janeway asked

"I don't think I can convince him to come back. I simply have to go with him, he's my friend."

Janeway thought about this for a moment, "Alright, take your Roundabout and go after him, Hugh. Let's hope that our paths will cross somewhere in the Alpha Quadrant. Under better circumstances."

"I'll tell that to Vash." Hugh smiled. 

"Good luck." 

"May we live happily ever after?" Tom asked aloud, "That's an odd good-bye."

"Vash is not the average man." Seven responded. 

****

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Captain's Log; Supplemental: Yesterday, we had a visit from a man who is known as Vash the Stampede. To the Borg and to many species throughout the Delta quadrant he is known as the Humanoid Typhoon, the Killer of the Collective or the Borg Killer. I'm sure that Starfleet would love to get their hands on this man, but he seems to be involved in a chase. A chase where he is the prey, he doesn't want to fight the Borg. He can only fight them whenever innocent lives other than his are in danger. With him was a Borg individual named Hugh, the crew of the Starship Enterprise-E would be delighted to know that he is alive and well. 

We did have another run in with the Borg, with the help of Vash and a weapon he calls _The Angel Arm_, he successfully destroyed a Borg vessel with a single shot. Though with another onslaught by them, he was forced to leave Voyager, fearing that the Borg will chase Voyager as long as he was aboard. 

After he left, we have detected no sign of either the Borg vessel that was chasing him or the two shuttlecrafts out there. Will the chase between Vash and the Borg continue on? I can only speculate, though there is one member of my crew that does need help with no speculation. 

****

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After the ridiculously short battle, Seven went down to the holodeck. She remembered having a cold feeling when Vash left. She watched as the shuttlecraft left, she heard the voice of the Borg Queen. 

"Seven of Nine." She heard the voice, "We will meet again."

Seven wanted to be on the holodeck for a certain reason, a reason for which escaped her for a while, that is until she came to the holodeck panel. From what she remembers about Picard (or Locutus to the Borg) she remembered that Picard loved Shakespeare. She picked one scene from the number of plays by this playwright. 

The holodeck doors opened and Seven stepped inside, while not too far behind her was Captain Janeway. Seven had left the bridge in a (as Janeway saw it) heart broken way. She only wanted to know what was troubling Seven.

She came to the holodeck and walked in, she looked and saw trees to her left and to her right, but she looked towards the center and found Seven. She found her in a courtyard with stone benches to her left and right. Above Seven was a balcony like some kind of love story.

Janeway walked forward to Seven, "This is an odd program." She said

Seven turned, "I chose this from the memories I have from Captain Picard. This is a scene from a play called Romeo and Juliet." 

"Picard did love Shakespearean plays." 

"This is the most commonly associated scene with the play. A scene of romance, even though their families were bitter enemies."

Janeway sat down upon one of the courtyard stone benches, feeling the cold stone through her uniform.

"Why did you choose this scene, Seven?" She asked

Seven responded, "In my experience with Vash, I had experienced several irrational emotions. At a certain point I hated Vash, because he killed the Borg. I was the one who showed it to him, I made him witness a memory that I thought he would be proud of. Instead he was ashamed at what he did to the Borg. Then I remember the memories of my past, and it was then that I found out that I…"

Seven was having trouble formulating the words and making them pass her lips.

"I…"

"You love him?" Janeway asked

Seven paused

"Yes, I do love him." She said as she sat down next to Janeway, "I love him for saving me as a child, yet I hate him for killing the Borg. I don't know which I should feel. The Borg always dismissed such emotions as love and hate because they were irrelevant to the development of perfection. Yet I wish I knew more about these emotions, I want to know how to handle them." 

Janeway smiled, "Seven, I think you've just had your first brush with love."

"As Shakespeare's characters once said," Seven quoted, "Parting is such sweet sorrow." 

****

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Personal Log, Vash the Stampede: After years of being in space searching for Anika Hansen, I finally found her. She was onboard a Federation Starship named Voyager, my mission has been a success. Yet it has also been a dismal failure, I had found Anika, yet she is now an older woman, a former Borg drone. Once a slave to the collective, she is free, but she's more Borg in her mind then she is human in her body. After being there, the Borg came after me, putting the Starship Voyager and its crew in danger. I couldn't risk endangering the lives of all those innocent people because of me just being there. I wanted to stay but I knew that I had to leave. 

All I can do now is continue on my course to Earth, the only path I can take. I've asked myself what I'll do when I get to Earth. I think that when I get there I should turn myself over to Starfleet and tell them that I've slaughtered Borg because of my reckless behavior. Though, there is one last question unanswered, will I meet Voyager and it's crew somewhere around Earth? That remains to be seen, it is here that I say my final good-byes to Anika, the only person that remains in her place is a former Borg drone named Seven of Nine. All that I have now, are my guns, the ship, my friend and the trail that we blaze through space, because the ticket to the future is always blank… 

End…

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Author's Notes: I wanted to end the story with Vash leaving Voyager. The reason is because if he had stayed aboard he would be a danger to the crew. Plus I'd have to write the last episode of Voyager with Vash in it. So I decided to have him leave so that way I could figure out a way for him to meet up with the Voyager crew when they got back to the Alpha Quadrant. However that'll be another story. 

Come back again for the sequel to Star Trek Voyager - Trigun: Reminiscence. 

**__**

Star Trek Voyager - Trigun: More Reminiscence


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